POUGHKEEPSIE – The Hudson Valley won’t be left out of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s high tech initiative, Dutchess economic development chief Ronald Hicks said.

State officials recently announced high tech computer chip manufacturing plans for Utica and Malta. "A lot of us felt punched in the gut about Dutchess County being left out of the state’s plans,” Hicks explained.

“It’s not all bad news, Hicks said. “We can and we will be a part of the future of high tech development, and East Fishkill will be a part of that. A part of that Marcy agreement includes 950 jobs for East Fishkill and Yorktown. The details of that have not been put out there. It is in the agreement. We can and we will be a part of the high tech development.”

Hicks said the county’s lack of industrial water and sewer is hurting local development prospects.

“IBM’s 300 mm wafer fab is state-of-the-art,” Hicks noted. “What’s being developed is the 450. I’ve never seen a governor be so aggressive for high tech development. There is a push for all of that to go to upstate New York, a very remote area in Utica. They are ready to accept that, because they have sewer and water, shovel-ready zoning. The same case goes for Malta, producing 300 mm chips and getting a lot of R&D jobs.”

He said the region lost Southeast Container in East Fishkill because of lack of water and sewer infrastructure. “That is a problem everywhere in the county,” Hicks maintained.

He said the county has “an aggressive plan, thanks to the Water and Wastewater Authority, to get water to the airport, the corporate park, and the properties that surround it,” Hicks said.

Infrastructure for Dutchess has received priority status from the governor’s regional council, and County Executive Marcus Molinaro is going to the legislature to get funding for the program.

Similar development plans involving water and sewer are being put together for the Dutchess County Airport, which services corporate jet fleets and wealthy visitors.

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